EPTWCS Europe Season 3
Challenger League
Previews and Predictions
sLivko vs uThermal
Namshar vs TLO
HeRoMaRinE vs jjakji
Sacsri vs Bunny
Starnan vs MMa
Brackets and standings on Liquipedia
Countdown:
Aaaaaaaaand it begins again. WCS EU is back with a vengeance! Featuring 16 incredible players, including several former semi finalists, this may be the most stacked Challenger League since the new format’s inception.
Some men refuse to die. sLivko has been residing in Challenger League for the past 4 seasons, always fighting his way back into Premier. Sadly, the Russian has been knocked back into Challenger at every turn, never getting past the Ro32. The profound lack of movement is in sharp contrast with 2012, where sLivko seemed to be on the up and up. With decent results throughout the year, it all culminated for the then-VP player in a 3rd - 4th place finish at IEM Singapore, where he narrowly lost to Grubby in an exhilarating 3-2 series.
The Russian’s playstyle, when it is seen in televised games, can be described as macro heavy, with an early-mid game focus. sLivko will drone like a madman, saturating his bases extremely fast. After getting a strong economy, he simply begins a constant stream of Zerglings, roaches and banelings into his opponents base. This is a stark contrast to the sLivko of old, who was known for his extreme patience when it came to late game scenarios, utilizing a slow, cautious deathpush with BL/Infestor.
Opposite sLivko stands uThermal, the young Dutch Terran. Making waves once again, uThermal is one of the few foreign Terrrans who has shown promise in the past year or so. Initially making a splash at the 2012 WCS Dutch nationals, uThermal took 3rd, taking the win over Harstem, after losing to the then unchallenged Dutch Masters, Ret and Grubby. Though he’s been on and off with his results since, the AT.Gaming Terran is starting to achieve some consistency. In the past few months, he’s found himself winning a handful of LANs and online events, most notably the DSCL 2014.
The Dutchman plays a decidedly standard form of Terran. Primarily focusing on MMM, he plays a straightforward game, going for pressure after his 1/1 and waiting until he hits a solid mass of units before going for committed pushes. Notably, he goes for a smaller amount of mines than the average Terran, saving the supply for more Marines and even throwing an occasional tank into the mix. Also notable is uThermal’s lack of drop play, instead focusing for in your face harassment and pressure.
Prediction: sLivko 2 - 3 uThermal
Namshar is a dark horse Zerg from Sweden, currently trying to make a name for himself. With a semi successful record in Swedish events, this is one of his more notable appearances in European tournaments as a whole. But to say it’s an oddity would be an insult to this burgeoning talent. In the past few months, the young Swede has taken games off of ForGG and Balloon, defeated Succeed at the Esports SM 2014 tournament, and just recently moved on to the second stage of the EU qualifiers for IEM Toronto. The young Zerg favors a roach-hydra composition backed by a strong economy. However, he’s not a terribly economically focused player, often choosing to delay his fourth in favor of applying more pressure. This willingness to attack can sometimes put the Karnage Zerg in a poor position, but one that he does find himself able to get out of. When the attacks do go in his favor, he capitalizes on the advantage, pressing his opponent into better and better engagements and trades.
Liquid`TLO is a player who needs little introduction. One of the most famous German players in history, TLO has consistently been one of Europe’s stronger performers. Though 2014 started out with a bang for him, taking a 3rd - 4th place finish, TLO failed to capitalize on the early success. After a Ro16 finish in WCS S1, all of his results have either been on the same level or lesser. Most recently, he finished in the Ro16 at MLG Anaheim. The Liquid Zerg’s style is one of the most interesting out there. TLO will do anything. He will do whatever build seems like an ok idea at any time. This unpredictability and creativity is one of his most valuable assets. However, amidst the storm of builds, a few trends emerge. TLO favors a ling-bane into muta style, fairly typical ZvZ. His micro continues to improve and his flanks are often essential in turning bad engagements in his favor. Impeccable muta transitions allow him to dominate the mid and late game.
Prediction: Namshar 1 - 3 TLO
HeRoMaRinE vs jjakji
HeRoMaRinE is one of the few foreign Terrans left standing. The German player came into prominence over the past year or two. Strong performances in online cups, such as Kapersky Arenas, Go4SC2 and ESET Masters boosted the young Terran up in the German scene. After a 3rd place finish at the LAN Finals for ESET, HeRoMaRinE has continued to push forward and post decent results. Most notably, after winning only a single EPS weekly cup, he went on to take the entire season finals, defeating Socke 3-2 in the grand finals. HeRoMaRinE’s style is one that changes as the situation calls for it. The young Terran will often play standard with 4M, pushing across the map as needed. He tends to be more on the aggressive side, utilizing drops and extending onto his opponents side of the map with his mines. Despite this bio focus, HeRoMaRinE can also follow in the footsteps of Goody, and play a mech heavy style. With excellent tank positioning and well timed hellbat or banshee harass, the German will whittle away at his opponent until the opportune moment for a deathpush.
jjakji is a phoenix. After his GSL win over Leenock in late 2011, the Terran player fell into relative obscurity, surfacing only to serve as the lone defense for NSH in GSTL. Many began to refer to Jjakji as the forgotten GSL champion, similar to Sniper. However, as 2013 drew to a close, Jjakji was opening a new beginning. After signing to mYi, Jjakji shocked everyone by placing 6th in WCS Korea S3, quickly following it up with a 3rd place finish at HSC VIII. Since then, Jjakji has been playing the best Starcraft of his life. Taking a Ro4 in WCS EU is his best achievement since then, though he routinely cracks Ro8 at tournaments, waiting for his next big finish. Jjakji’s playstyle is simple. Drop it like it’s hot. The Korean Terran has some of the best multitasking in the professional scene and he knows it. Often drawing games out past the 30 minute mark, Jjakji will wait until the right time and then begin an onslaught of drops, wearing his opponents thin until they simply can’t stand the pressure and crumble.
Prediction: HeRoMaRinE 2 - 3 jjakji
mYi have done it again. After a long period of poor results,
Sacsri finally switched from his old KeSPA home of SK Telecom to mYi. Like Jjakji and stardust before him, people were looking forward to see if mYi would have another champion on their hands. For the first fee months, it was unclear. Sacsri bided his time, practicing ladder and slowly climbing up the GM ranks. Once Dreamhack hit, it was his time to shine. The Korean Zerg tore through the event, taking down every player in his way, including Stephano and his own teammate Stardust, before facing and defeating MC in the finals. Sacsri had had a dream run, finishing the tournament with a DH first: a victory over the infamous DH champagne bottle. Now the pressure is on Sacsri to see if he's a one trick pony or if he can carry on the hype. Sacsri's play style is fairly standard. Favoring a roach-hydra-viper composition, Sacsri is able to adapt a core style to each matchup. Using his impressive micro, he often finds himself taking the better of an engagement that he shouldn't have. Well executed flanks, good focus fire and impeccable concaves all lend the self to Sacsri's prowess as a player. Even when he plays other style (Ling-Bane, Swarm host), his micro shows itself in his play. When he goes swarm host, however, the true show is in his brilliant planning and positioning, getting perfect angles for all of his sieges.
Liquid`Bunny is one of the foreign Terrans hanging on for dear life. Since his breakout, Bunny has been a player who has always performed "alright". Though he's always been able to take single games off of top tier players, Bunny has been unable to string the wins together in order to make a deep run at a tournament. Residing in the Ro16, the Dane will sometimes go above and someone's slip below, making him an almost sort of 2012-2013 EU version of Curious. Bunny's play style is fairly simple. Slow and steady wins the race. A big fan of mech, Bunny especially enjoys the sky less variant, focusing only on tanks, mines and hellbats. Even when he plays bio, Bunny draws the game out, taking engagement only when he knows he can win.
Prediction: Sacsri 3 - 1 Bunny
StarNaN is one of a multitude of Swedes trying to carry the banner of the country's proud eSports tradition. Starnan first made a name for himself in the eSports SM tournament, until being defeated by Thorzain, but not without giving him one hell of a fight. The EU Protoss has begun to once again make a name for himself, climbing the EU GM ladder. With a new team behind him, only time will tell if StarNan's time in the spotlight will be a bit longer and a hit brighter this go around. StarNan's play is fairly standard for Protoss. Mostly relying on gateway + colossi, StarNan has always had solid micro, taking excellent engagements and minimizing his loses whenever possible. In addition to his strong gateway style, the young Swede also boats an impressive Skytoss style. Expect to see him mix up his play, dependent on the maps and the tempo of the series.
MMA has seen the highest of highs and lowest of lows in Starcraft. He's won GSLs and been eliminated from Code A. He's won the Triple Crown, and had a year and a half long gap between tournament wins. But currently, MMA is playing some amazing Starcraft. In Season 1, he tore through the competition to take 2nd place. He recently got a Ro8 finish at HSC IX. In ATC, he was a dominant force all throughout the season. However, in WCS he's hit a bit if a snag, one that means he will have to overcome Starnan in order to clear up. MMA's play style can best be described as being in your face. MMA is everywhere that you aren't, and is even creeping up into where you are. With aggressive drops, tank lines, and mine placement, MMA takes swift control of the map. Excellent micro with packs of 4M and tanks help him to slowly attain his advantage and chip away at his opponent. Expect a lot of drops, a solid minefield, and strong timing pushes.
Prediction: StarNan 1 - 3 MMA
